Soldering the light wires. I put a little yellow paint on the + wires, just to keep them straight at the end of the build.

Two 1/2oz slugs of lead go into the smokebox. In case you're wondering, the locomotive's balance is too far back. This is why I added most of the weight to the front. Now the loco is balanced between the center two driver sets:

The steam and sand domes are filled with lead and epoxy:

Just a quick shot of the interior before I assemble everything:

Here's the inside of the cab. Really hard to see once the tender is attached:

This photo shows some of the little changes I made to make this a little more B&O-like:

The boiler running boards angle down just before the cab on a B&O steamer. So I did a little surgery.

Added a long grab above the cab window.

The locomotive came with the correct USRA trailing truck, but I had a brass one, so...

Added the long vertical grabs behind the cab. They still need to be weathered.

Added a third pop valve between the two originals. #4530 had a valve shield behind the pop valves. I chose not to add the shield. I like the way it looks without the shield.

I chose #4530 because this locomotive did not have the added brakeman's seat behind the fireman. I've added that feature to other locomotives in the past. It's easier to deal with tight radii with out the brakeman's hooch.

I still have some cleaning up to do, along with some minor tweaks here and there.

I'm thinking of the impressive locomotive roster you must have by now, ranging from a vintage Dockside to an old Mantua 2-8-2 to a PFM brass 2-8-0 and rebuilt 0-8-0, modified Bachmann 2-8-0s, several USRA 0-6-0s, at least one 4-6-2 and a 4-8-2, at least two EM-1s, and now more 2-8-2s, and all of them looking better as you go on. . .

I had to give the Bachmann USRA Mikes a try. They are nice locomotives. They run as well as I thought they would. As with ANY loco, from ANY manufacturer, they require a little tinkering.

The recently announced USRA Pacifics should be the same. The only changes from the Mikes will be the wheel arrangement. The boilers and tenders will be identical. I suspect the motor, electronics, and gearing will be the same as well.

I'm not a great fan of modeling passenger service, but I may have to try one, just to compare with my Pacific from the other guys.

Jonathan, the level of detail that you impart on locos and rolling stock is definitely to be admired and envied. You set the bar at a very high level, no question! But, this following statement, which you have made before...

As with ANY loco, from ANY manufacturer, they require a little tinkering.

Regards,

Jonathan

...is simply untrue. I'm not sure what motivates you to keep making such a statement, but not every manufacturer's locomotive requires tinkering with it to get it to run properly right out of the box. If this is the level of detail you require to see on your Bachmann steam locomotives, then you are free to add them (obviously) like you so brilliantly do, but that is not the same as stating all locomotives from all manufactures require tinkering with.

As for the tinkering part, we may have to agree to disagree on that one. Perhaps a better term for me to use is "optimizing". I own locomotives from 4 different plastic manufacturers, as well as a stable of brassies. All of them, at a minimum, required an addition of weight (or rebalance) and minor fixes like wheel gage and/or squeaks, just as a couple of examples.

I am admittedly biased towards the Bachmann locos because they come in at a more economical price point and run just as well as the higher priced models, given a little TLC.

I will also admit that before I add any locomotive to my layout, I take it apart and look for things to improve upon. I can't help it.

I know there are some modern diesels that are near perfect out of the box. My fellow club members will attest to that. I don't have much experience with them.

Excellent weathering, What do you use, powders? I use powders but they don't seem to be as detailed as yours. Do you use any kind of fixitive or just leave them exposed? I leave mine exposed so I can change them or remove them.-John West

I know there are some modern diesels that are near perfect out of the box. My fellow club members will attest to that. I don't have much experience with them.

...it would appear to me that what you are really trying to say is that ANY manufacturers steam locomotive requires tinkering ("optimizing") to run properly. If that indeed is what you are trying to convey, that is different, than simply stating all inclusively that ANY locomotive is in such need, then I would have no disagreement with that statement and would certainly defer to you as I don't have much experience with them. To say otherwise, implies that no matter what or from where, someone buys, it will not run or "look" right, right out of the box.

And yes, it goes w/o stating that you are clearly biased toward Bachmann locos and do a wonderful job improving their looks and functionality. Keep up the great work!

I use a combination. Extreme weathering is dry-brushed on, usually with grimy black or gray enamel. I do this first. Then I apply dullcote. An example would be around the whistle area. I like to dry-brush a healthy amount of gray around the whistle... also around the steam turret.

Second, I apply powders: soot and various shades of rust. If there is too much weathering, I can wipe off and leave alone or reapply. I find the weathering mellows out over time, as I handle and operate the models. The weathering goes over the whistle area's gray weathering so it's not quite as pronounced as when I first applied the gray.

For some reason, I like to leave bells, whistles and pop valves shiny. This is not prototypical, obviously. I just like the way it looks. I also put very, very little weathering on the smokebox front. I put too much work into the headlight, classlights, grabs and such. Can't bring myself to dirty them up.